Star Lore Of All Ages/Corona Borealis

by William Tyler Olcott

Corona Borealis

The Northern Crown

Corona Borealis

Corona Borealis
The Northern Crown

There too that Crown which Bacchus set on high,
A brilliant sign of the lost Ariadne.
Aratos. 

This conspicuous and beautiful constellation is said to commemorate the crown presented by Bacchus to Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, second King of Crete. The legend relates that Theseus, King of Athens (1235 b.c.), was shut up in the celebrated labyrinth of Crete to be devoured by the ferocious Minotaur, which was confined in that place* This creature was accustomed to feed upon the chosen young men and maidens exacted from the Athenians as a yearly tribute to the tyranny of Minos. Theseus attacked and slew the wicked monster, and being furnished with a clue of thread by Ariadne, who was passionately devoted to him, he extricated himself from the difficult windings of the labyrinth. He afterwards married the beautiful Ariadne, and carried her away to the island of Naxos, where sad to relate he deserted her.

Ariadne was so disconsolate at this treatment, that some say she hanged herself, but Plutarch takes a more cheerful view, and claims that she lived many years after and was espoused to Bacchus, who loved her with much tenderness and gave her a crown of seven stars, which after her death was placed among the stars. Thus the constellation is often called "Ariadne's Crown."

Spenser however thinks that Theseus was the donor of the crown. In his Faerie Queen he says:

Theseus Slaying the Minotaur
Statue at Villa Albani

Look: how the crowne which Ariadne wore
Upon her yvory forehead...
Being now placed in the firmament,
Through the bright heavens doth her beams display,
And is unto the starres an ornament,
Which round about her move in order excellent.

Apollonius Rhodius thus refers to the Crown in his Tale of the Argonauts as early as the third century b.c.

Still her sign is seen in heaven.
And midst the glittering symbols of the sky
The starry crown of Ariadne glides.

Brown claims that the crown was bestowed by the sun-god Dionysos on his consort Ariadne (the very chaste one) on the occasion of his nuptials in the island of Naxos.

We therefore have our choice as to who bestowed the crown on Ariadne—Bacchus, Theseus, or Dionysos.

Allen tells us that Pherecydes, in the fifth century before Christ, was the first to record this legend of Ariadne's Crown, and the constellation is without doubt one of great antiquity. It is one of the few that resemble in the arrangement of stars relative to each other the subject supposed to be represented. The stars are arranged in a semi-circle, and outline a perfect crown, so that this group is easily identified, and because of its beauty is better known than many of the constellations.

This constellation has also been regarded as "the Coiled Hair of Ariadne," a reduplication of the asterism Coma Berenices or Berenice's Hair.

One of the most peculiar features of the arrangement of the stars into constellations by the ancients is the fact that many of the figures are repeated, and in almost every case the two constellations similar in figure are situated close together in the sky. Thus we find two Dogs, two Lions, two Bears, two Birds, two Giants (Hercules and Ophiuchus), two Fishes, two Crowns (the northern and southern), two Centaurs, and now as we have seen above The Minotaur
Painting by George Frederick Watts there seem to have been two constellations that represented maiden's tresses, only separated by the constellation Boötes.

This fact of reduplication seems to corrobrate the evidence that there was a deliberate plan exercised in the designing of the constellations, for there were many animals known to the ancients that are not given a place in the stellar menagerie. There must have been some very good and sufficient reason for duplicating so many of the star groups.

The Northern Crown has also borne the following titles: "The Wreath of Flowers," "Diadema Cœli" "Oculus," meaning any celestial luminary, and "Mæra," signifying the "shining one."

The fact that the stars forming the Crown do not form a complete circle has caused it to appear other than crown-like to various peoples. Thus it is said to resemble a Beggar's Dish with a nicked rim, such as is held out by the beggar to receive alms.

The Australian natives called this constellation "womera," our boomerang, the arrangement of the stars suggesting that weapon to their minds.

The Shawnee Indians of our own country called this constellation "the Celestial Sisters," and have an interesting legend respecting it, which is a typical example of the imaginative power possessed alike by the red men of North America, and the far-off nomadic tribes of the ancient world. The legend is as follows: "White Hawk, a mighty hunter, was searching for game. He suddenly found himself on the outskirts of a great prairie, where he perceived a circular path worn through the grass with no path leading to it. While he stood wondering at the strange pathway, he saw descending from the heavens a silver basket containing twelve beautiful maidens. As the basket touched the ground they alighted and began dancing about the ring, beating time on a silver ball. White Hawk endeavoured to capture the most beautiful of the maidens, but they all leaped into the basket which was instantly carried up into the sky. The next day White Hawk revisited the spot disguised as a rabbit, and tried in vain to seize one of the dancers. The day following in the guise of a mouse he was more successful, and succeeded in catching the most bewitching maiden, and took her home as his bride. She soon became homesick, however, and one day when White Hawk was absent she made a silver basket, and singing her magic chant was carried to the heavens, where she appears now as one of the bright stars near the Crown, the star Arcturus in the constellation Boötes."

The Indians also imagined that this star-traced circle represented a council of Chiefs, and the star in the centre of the circle was the servant, cooking over the fire, preparing the feast.

Manilius in the first book of his Astronomicon thus speaks of the Crown:

Near to Boötes the bright Crown is viewed,
And shines with stars of different magnitude.

Corona Borealis was known to the Hebrews by the name of "Ataroth," and by this name the constellation is called in the East to this day.

Cæsius said that this Crown represented the one that Ahasuerus placed upon Esther's head, or the golden crown of the Ammonite King, of a talent's weight. He also likened it to the Crown of Thorns worn by the Christ.

This constellation is especially interesting as marking the region of the sky where the most celebrated temporary star of recent years appeared. It was observed 58′ south of the star Epsilon,on the 12th of May, 1866, as a second magnitude star, and was visible for eight days. The star then slowly declined to the tenth magnitude and rose later to the eighth. Now it appears a pale yellow, and is known as T Coronæ. It is slightly variable. This was the first temporary star to be studied by the spectroscope.

The brightest star in the constellation is Alpha, a Photo by Mansell
Bacchus and Ariadne
National Gallery, London star of 2.4 magnitude. It was known to the Arabs as "Alphecca," which means the "bright one of the dish," referring to the resemblance of the constellation to a broken plate mentioned above. This star is also called "Gemma," and "the Pearl of the Crown," a title which Allen says has been occasionally transformed into Saint Marguerite.

Gemma is receding from our system at the rate of about twenty miles a second. Manilius thus refers to it:

One placed in front above the rest displays
A vigorous light and darts surprising rays.
This shone since Theseus first his faith betray'd,
The monument of the forsaken maid.

This star marks the radiant point of the Coronids, a meteor shower visible from April 12th to June 30th. It culminates at 9 p.m., June 28th.

The Northern Crown contains the exceedingly interesting variable star lettered "R," which has been called "Variabilis Coronæ." It was discovered by Pigott in 1795 and varies with much irregularity from 5.8 to the 13th magnitude. There are only two other variables known to be of this type. To give an idea of the rapid changes of light in this star, it is interesting to note that on Sept. 21, 1910, its magnitude was 6.5, Oct. 17th it had declined to a 9.6 magnitude star, and by Nov. 2d it was only a dim star of the 12th magnitude.

The Greek word βαγδει is the mnemonic word given by Young to assist the memory in locating the stars in this constellation, the stars in the Crown bearing in sequence these Greek-letter names.

Photo by Anderson

Ariadne Sleeping

National Museum, Rome